Santa’s workshop can’t compare to the Clear Lake home of Eldon and Kathy Vine. Their home is a Christmas wonderland featuring a huge Christmas village, homemade quilts and hand-carved wooden pieces that rival anything an elf could make.
For 30 years Eldon has added to the Christmas village that occupies its own room in his home. In fact, it’s so big some of it had to move to another area of the house and some has to stay in storage and be switched out every year.
“The collection is a combination of store bought items and pieces I have made,” said Eldon. “Most of the store-bought ones I got at after Christmas sales, but while looking at them one day I decided I could carve something more personal and better than these.”
Over the years, Eldon has added some very special pieces to the Christmas village. One piece is a replica of the Clear Lake VFW, right down to the flag pole out front.
“I originally carved the VFW building as a display to show what the buildings would look like with the memorials on the wall,” said Eldon.
Another special addition in the Christmas village is a parade piece, featuring horses, a sleigh, a full band and even a color guard. The parade is reminiscent of Clear Lake’s Christmas by the Lake event.
“The parade piece is my favorite,” said Kathy. “I am always amazed at the detail he has in each piece.”
Another favorite Christmas carving is of Eldon’s childhood horse, named Flip, and a wagon full of children. The children in the wagon represent Eldon and his siblings.
“I’ve carved a replica of Flip for each of my siblings,” said Eldon. “Four or five of us would ride Flip at a time. He was a special horse.”
Eldon, a Marine veteran of the Korean War, gets a lot of his inspiration from his time in the service. One of his special pieces is a three foot soldier carved out of a cedar fence post that is a replica of himself.
Carving horses is one of Eldon’s favorite things to do. Although he admitted that he has carved a mule and a unicorn too. “I don’t want the guys at the VFW to know about the unicorn, however,” laughed Eldon.
Two favorite horse carvings of Eldon’s are of a military horse named, “Reckless.” Eldon told the amazing story behind the carvings. Before the war, Reckless was being trained by a young man to be a race horse. But after the man’s sister stepped on a land mind and lost her leg, the man sold Reckless to buy his sister a prosthetic leg. Reckless was used by the military to haul ammunition and bodies.
“I was very taken with the horse, even though I had never met her,” said Eldon. “In Quantico, Virg. there is a life size statue of Reckless.”
Eldon does not sell his pieces, although he did donate one to be sold on an auction for the Marine Corp League. Instead, Eldon likes to gift his creations to those he feels deserve some special recognition. “Mostly they go to hard working friends and club members at the VFW.”
Eldon retired in 1994 from the Clear Lake school system, where he taught social studies for over 25 years to seventh and eighth grade students. “I enjoyed my career for the most part, except for a few of the students, but I’m joking of course,” said Eldon.
Eldon plans to continue his wood carving hobby into the future. “Next year’s plans are top-secret, there is no revealing any project early,” said Eldon. “With this hobby, the fun is in the doing.”
For those who get to see Eldon’s creations, the fun is in the memories they evoke and the stories behind each piece.
by Michelle Watson
Santa’s workshop can’t compare to the Clear Lake home of Eldon and Kathy Vine. Their home is a Christmas wonderland featuring a huge Christmas village, homemade quilts and hand-carved wooden pieces that rival anything an elf could make.
For 30 years Eldon has added to the Christmas village that occupies its own room in his home. In fact, it’s so big some of it had to move to another area of the house and some has to stay in storage and be switched out every year.
“The collection is a combination of store bought items and pieces I have made,” said Eldon. “Most of the store-bought ones I got at after Christmas sales, but while looking at them one day I decided I could carve something more personal and better than these.”
Over the years, Eldon has added some very special pieces to the Christmas village. One piece is a replica of the Clear Lake VFW, right down to the flag pole out front.
“I originally carved the VFW building as a display to show what the buildings would look like with the memorials on the wall,” said Eldon.
Another special addition in the Christmas village is a parade piece, featuring horses, a sleigh, a full band and even a color guard. The parade is reminiscent of Clear Lake’s Christmas by the Lake event.
“The parade piece is my favorite,” said Kathy. “I am always amazed at the detail he has in each piece.”
Another favorite Christmas carving is of Eldon’s childhood horse, named Flip, and a wagon full of children. The children in the wagon represent Eldon and his siblings.
“I’ve carved a replica of Flip for each of my siblings,” said Eldon. “Four or five of us would ride Flip at a time. He was a special horse.”
Eldon, a Marine veteran of the Korean War, gets a lot of his inspiration from his time in the service. One of his special pieces is a three foot soldier carved out of a cedar fence post that is a replica of himself.
Carving horses is one of Eldon’s favorite things to do. Although he admitted that he has carved a mule and a unicorn too. “I don’t want the guys at the VFW to know about the unicorn, however,” laughed Eldon.
Two favorite horse carvings of Eldon’s are of a military horse named, “Reckless.” Eldon told the amazing story behind the carvings. Before the war, Reckless was being trained by a young man to be a race horse. But after the man’s sister stepped on a land mind and lost her leg, the man sold Reckless to buy his sister a prosthetic leg. Reckless was used by the military to haul ammunition and bodies.
“I was very taken with the horse, even though I had never met her,” said Eldon. “In Quantico, Virg. there is
